Doughnut mechanism and the like



Dec. 10, 1935. P. AHA'ClCH 2,023,658

DOUGHNUT MECHANISM AND THE LIKE Filed Deo. 2, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l Dec., l0, 1935. P. AHAclcH Y 2,023,658

DOUGHNUT MECHANISM AND THE LIKE Filed Deo. 2, 1951 ls sheets-sheet 2 Dec. 1U, 1935. P AHACICH 2,023,658

DOUGHNUT MECHANISM AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 2, 1951 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 0'( W l z5 fifa/vlag.

Patented Dec. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES f met FATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements rin doughnut mechanism and the like, and more particularly to improved means for feeding doughnut material and the like and for forming doughnuts and such.

An object of the invention, among others, is the provision of new and improved mechanism for feeding doughnut material in varied quantities as desired to form doughnuts of various sizes.

Another object of said invention is to form such doughnuts so that all doughnuts of the desired size are similar and uniform in character and size and other respects. Another object is the provision of improved mechanism for operating the doughnut measuring, cutting, feeding, and forming mechanism.

Still another object is the provision of new and improved guiding means to cooperate with such mechanism.

The invention also has for an object the provision of mechanism for accomplishing the said results which will be simple of construction, easy of manufacture, and relatively inexpensive.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the specification hereinafter set forth. l

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view of a preerred form of mechanism embodying the principle of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 illustrating details of the crank mechamsm;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3, showing details of the crank mechanism;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing the yielding link employed in connection with the operating mechanism in the preferred form shown;

Fig. 6 is a view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. l, said view being at right angles to the view shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 6, showing the condition and relation of the operating parts at one stage of the movement of the mechanism; and

Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are sectional views, showing condition and relation of the Operating the line 2--2 of parts at various other stages of the movement of the mechanism in one cycle of operation.

The preferred form of construction as illustrated in the drawings comprises a hopper 2@ having legs 2| by means of which the hopper 5 be mounted upon supporting bars 22 in an obvious manner. The hopper 20, as shown in vthe preferred form of the drawings, is of the common type having an enlarged open bowl-like upper portion 23 and a cylindrical discharge neck 10 portion 24. The neck portion 24 has tted there- 'a bushing 25, the bushing extending from the upper end 26 of the neck portion to beyond the lower end 2i of the neck portion, terminating at as shown in the drawings. Extending upwardly from the said bushing are vertical oars 29 which are joined together at their upper ends by means of a circular band 30 corresponding in dimension to the bushing 25; in other words, the band and bars being aligned downwardly with 20 the bushing and may be formed integrally therewith. The construction of the bars 29 manifestly forms openings 3! between each pair of bars. As will more fully appear hereinafter, the bars form guiding and centering means for the cutting and 25 forming mechanism, and the apertures are so arranged as to permit the dough in the hopper to be fed therethrough into the cylindrical chamber predetermined intervals.

Aiixed to the hopper is a boss 32 having an 30 opening 33. Extending vertically upwardly through the opening 33 and locked Vand supported in the said boss by means of a screw 34 is a bracket 35 having a leg 36 extending through a recess 3l in the marginal bead of the hopper 35 The bracket 35, which is the main supporting means for the operating mechanism hereinafter to be described, has a horizontal leg 38, and a vertical leg 39 extending downwardly and supporting a stationary guide sleeve 4U having verti- 40 cal slots t! and 42 formed therein. Supported in the legs 33 and 39 by means of bearings 43, is a driven shaft 44. The power means for this shaft is not shown in the drawings except that a pinion 45 is shown mounted upon one end of the 45 driven shaft 44 which extends beyond the leg 36. By this means said driven shaft may obviously be coupled to a source of power such as a motor and driven thereby, or a manually operated handie may be attached to said shaft. The other end of said shaft 44 extends through the opposite leg 3Q, and axed thereto is a crank 46, having an arm 46a. The crank and associated elements are shown in detail in Figs. 1, 3, and 4. The crank 46 has a hub 41, and the arm 46a is provided 55 with a dovetail slot 48 which extends from the outer end of the arm toy the driven shaft 44. Mounted centrally in the slot 48'is an adjusting screw 49, having a shank portion 50 which extends beyond the Vend of the slot 48 into an aperture in the hub 41, and extends furthen-throiigh another aperture in the driven shaft 44. The shank extends still further into another aperture on the opposite side of the hub. In the last mentioned aperture.-v t-he. s hank portion is provided with a sleeve or collar-5| which maybe secured thereto in an obvious manner. By virtue of the collar or sleeve 5| the screw 49 is made longit 1`1 driver to operate the screw-49, butthe-same may.V

be otherwise formed. Adapted to slide in the dovetail slot 48 isa block 53, the sides of which are grooved', asat 54g to-conform to undercut walls v= of the dovetail slot so that the. block 53 may move back-and forth in the slot. The block 53l has.v a threadedaperture 1 ini. the. centrali portion. thereof adapted toreceive. therein, the fadj usting screw-4 9.

In the mechanism. just described. the. same is arranged andi constructed: sothat the adusting screw' 49 vmay` be operated by thelengagement of a screw` driver in-the groove 52.at theend', of the adjusting screw- 49 torcausea swiveling movementV ofthe' screw, whichmovement willresult in` amovement in oneoftwo directions ofthe block- 53.

Block 53f has integrally formed therewith a shank-56. Pivotally mountedon theshank 56 is a-,yielding-link 5:1, whichl linkis shown inV detail in Fig. 5. The-element 51 comprises a. head- 58 havingxedth'ereto the.l upper end oflaspring.

59. The head 58- obviously has an eyelet by means of-A which theheadl 58. may be mounted upon the shank 5.6. Theotherfend-V of thespring 59V is connectedto a lower head 60;

Extending downwardly fromA theA head 58 through the spring 594sY an upper.' sleeve-.651. Internally'xed tofthesleeve: Slis-'amd 62 depending centrally through the sleeve. E'lll and beyond thelower end ofthe sleeve'. Extending upwardly from the lower head 60', throughy thespring 59, is a lower sleeve` 631, adapted'k to receive. in its upperend that portion-of? the: pin 62y which extends downwardly beyond the4 end of thev sleeve 6l. The member 51 is; so constructed. and arrangedthat by means: of: exerting. force on= the head 58 the member 511may-beextendedragainst the tension ofgthefspring 59, becauseoff the fact that" the sleeves 6l and 631 arenot fastenedtoe gether but are relatively movable. Forl example, when the'4 memberlris in extendedl conditionthe spring 59 will tend-.toiret-ract themember- 51 by exertingV` a reactive tensileforce to draw the-.two sleeves back to their normal position. The. rod 62-being at all times-within the'A sleeve-.63', atleast to someextentv ofits length, will. serve to guide the sleeve 63y` in4 the; contracting movement of themember 51.- The purposeY of this.V arrangement will be explained hereinafter-more fully.

VThe-head 60-is forked, as at'64,.andextending through said forkA 611. and pivotally..r mounted A therein at 65is oneendfof.- a U-sh'aped connectthrough the stationaryguide-sleevef46, Fixed t0 Y the lower end of the sleeve 61 is a measuring, cutting, and feeding plunger 68. By means of the construction recited the sleeve 61 is adapted to reciprocate the plunger 68 through the bushing 25 which is secured in the cylindrical discharge neck portion 24, and also upwardly out of the bushing into the hopper 2i), being guided by the members 29. Also xedly mounted on the shank 56 is a supplemental crank arm 69. Secured to the opposite'end. thereof is a bolt 19, and pivoted onthe bolt ,10 in turn is .ayielding link 1i which is similar in all respects to the yielding link 51 kheretofore described. The yielding link 1l has Ya head 12 whichvis forked in the same way as the hear-169 to receive one end of a U-shaped connecting member 13, the other end of which extends through slot 42 in the stationary guide sleeve 4D, andthereafter extends further through a second slot 14 in the vertically reciprocating sleeve member 61. The connecting arm 13 is thensecured toy a. vertically reciprocating rod'. 15 which operates` within the sleevel; Therod 15 isconstructed of such.length` as to enable it to extend. downwardly through. theV sleeve 13 and through an aperture 16 provided inthe plunger 68;- the aperture 16a obviously being. arranged to register with the interior ofy the sleeve 6.1. The rodA 15a extends throughthe aperture 16 out of andz beyond said plunger and is secured at its lowest extremity to a forming plunger 11;

In: the operation of; the mechanism hereinvbefore described; it. willy be understood that the drivengshaft 44;maybe linked'upto-a source of power. The adjusting screw 49. may then be turnedfby'a screw driver or other obvious means, which will cause the block 53^tomove nearer to orfarthenawa-y fromthev driven shaft 44; Inasmuchastheshank portion 56 isintegral therewith in the form used to illustrate thepresent invention, andi inasmuch as the yielding link 51 ispivot'a'lly,` mounted-on the shank 56:, the relative position ofthe link willbe alteredin correspondence withtheadjustment ofthe adjusting screw 49m the. dovetail slot 48. For example, if the adjusting. screw iseturned in one direction and the block 53 moved nearer the drivenshaft 44, the radius of revolution.offthe.` shank portion 56 will beshortened, causing theyielding linkl 51 to be correspondingly changed-g which in turn `will cause ai similar.- alteration in. thef vertically reciprocating sleeve member-61 and-,themeasuring cutting and feeding plunger 68 axed to the'lcwer end of the sleeve 621: 'I'he consequence of this will be that less doughnut material will be fed into the cylindrical discharge. neck portion 24 with its bushing 25. to: makea smallerl doughnut. Thus the quantity of the material toI be fed and the sizeoffthedoughnut may be controlled by simple adjustment ofxtheadjusting. screw member 49.

Iff the adjusting screw is swiveledinthe oppositefdirectionto movey the block53av away from shaft-44', t l 1ethrowofA the crankwill be increased and the vertically reciprocating. sleeve member 61 willbe correspondingly changed in relation to the neck-portion. 24 andmoredough willbe permitted to feed into the said portion by the, cutting plungen 6 6,las.Wi1l.be5manifest. tothoseskilled. in the art. When the adjusting screw 49 been properly. atlJ'uSiest.,Y theY motor. or. other power means may be operatedto actuate the plungers.

'Ihe plunger 68, as will appear from the drawings, will then be reciprocated in and cutoff the bushing 25,A and when the plunger 68 is reciprocated upwardlyV outof 'the bushingit willbe guided by the-bars 29.

Cil

In the operation of the device it has been found that because of pressure or because of friction or obstruction caused by dough material, or other obstructions being introduced between the plungers or sticking to the wall of the bushing, especially when the plungers are moving at different speeds, interference is caused with the operation of the plungers. To overcome this difculty and facilitate the operation of the mechanism with safety and a minimum of injury to the machine, I have provided the yielding links, which have proved particularly advantageous. For example, if the plunger should fail to operate because of resistance of one kind or another, or should operate improperly, in many cases it would be impossible to operate the machine without grave danger of causing injury to the mechanism, in the absence of the yielding links which I have provided. This danger is obviously eliminated by the yielding links, and it is believed that in most cases the continued operation of the machine in connection with the force exerted by the yielding links will be found to work out the obstruction automatically.

In Figs. 1, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, there has been shown the condition of the operating mechanism and the relation of the parts in the various portions of a cycle of the operation of the mechanism. For example, in Fig. 1 the plunger 68 is within the bushing 25 a slight distance above the terminus 28 of the bushing. At the same time the plunger 'l1 has been reciprocated downwardly out of the bushing to a point a sho-rt distance below the terminus 28. In the movement from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 9 the plunger 68 has been moved downwardly and the plunger 'Il has been moved upwardly and the two adjacent faces of the plungers have met substantially on the plane of the terminus 23 of the bushing. In case all the doughnut material has not been discharged from the forming plunger 11 the remainder will be discharged in the meeting of the plungers. In the downward reciprocation of the plunger 68 the same will serve to assist in feeding any dough remaining in the bushing 25 onto the plunger 'l1 to be discharged therefrom.

From the position shown in Fig. 9 both plungers move upwardly together a short distance, as will be apparent from the broken lines, until the plunger 'I1 reaches the limit of its upward travel, and the plunger 68 then continues on in its upward vertical movement out of the bushing 25 and upwardly between the vertical bars 29, as shown in Fig. 10.

In Fig. l1 it will be observed that plunger T! has moved downwardly while plunger 68 continued its upward travel to the limit thereof, adjacent the circular band 30. In Fig. 10 as soon as the vertical plunger 68 has moved out of the bushing the doughnut material will be fed into the neck portion toward the plunger 11. In Fig. 11 when the plunger 'H has started its downward travel it may `exert a suction force to assist in the feeding of the doughnut material. In Fig. 12 the plunger 68 has reversed its movement and is engaged in downward movement, just prior to performing its function of cutting the doughnut material to prevent any further material from being fed. The importance of the vertical bars 29 will be especially apparent from Fig. l2, where the plunger 68 is shown out of contact with the bushing 25, and the plunger 'i1 is shown to have been reciprocated out of the bushing also. The plunger might be moved laterally to cause imperfect operation if it were not for the provision of the guiding means which center the plungers for reciprocation through the bushing.

In Fig. 13 the plunger 58, which has moved at .1:

greater speed than the plunger l?, has cut the doughnut material and has moved into the bushing 25 to continue its assistance in feeding the doughnut material if necessary, the necessity depending cn factors including the fluidity of the i.

doughnut material. The plunger 'El has moved out from the lower end of the bushing 25 to permit the discharge of the doughnut material therefrom, either by gravity or the cooperation of the plunger 68, or both, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Following the position shown in Fig. 13, the plungers will be reciprocated to the position shown in Fig. 1 to repeat the same cycle of operation.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, together with certain of its advantages, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In doughnut making mechanism or the like, a hopper, a shaft, a crank on said shaft, a pair of yielding links connected to said crank, a cutting and feeding plunger connected to one of said links and a forming and discharging plunger connected to the other of said links, said plungers cooperating with said hopper to cut, feed, form, and discharge doughnuts, and screw means for varying the connection between the yielding links and the crank.

PETER AHACICH. 

